Erin's Book #34: Shelter Me by Juliette Fay

Much like V and Red Hook Road, Shelter Me represents a great fear: Janie, mother of 2 (4-year-old Dylan and baby Carly), loses her beloved husband Robby in a bicycle accident. Shelter Me follows her first year as a widow as she gets closer to people she barely knew and even disliked prior to the accident. She leans heavily on her crazy, overbearing aunt, her nosy neighbor, her understanding priest, and eventually the hunky contractor her husband hired to build her a porch before he died. She has no shortage of romantic interests, if she can find it in herself to move on.

It is a testament to Fay's writing that Janie, a self-proclaimed angry, bitchy, and sometimes downright mean woman, remains endearing and intensely likable. Most of the time, she is holding on only for the sake of her young children. Janie and Robby had a truly happy, wonderful marriage, which makes his absence that much more painful.

As a reader, I shared the character's sentiments - wanting her to move on, yet feeling guilty for that desire. As the shattered family moves through the year, celebrating birthdays and holidays without Robby, the hole he left gradually feels like less of a blow. Fay's writing is so vivid that I found myself responding to the book in ways I haven't in some time, feeling incredibly caught up in the story. A beautiful book I highly recommend.